“What are they gonna say about him? Are they gonna say he was a kind man? He was wise man? He had plans? He had wisdom?”
It’s up to those of us left to have that say, I suppose. He’ll live forever. Ride easy.
Tag: Dennis Hopper
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6/16 Web Round-up
• Tom O’Neil ponders the awards prospects of comedy box office hit “The Hangover.” [Gold Derby]• Eugene Hernandez talks to Dennis Hopper at CineVegas. [indieWIRE]
• Joe Flint, meanwhile, chastises Heather Graham for again playing the girl with the heart of gold from the wrong side of the tracks. [Company Town]
• Miki Turner talks “Whatever Works” (which doesn’t really work) with Larry David. [MSNBC]
• Nathaniel Rogers runs an early screening review of “Brüno.” [The Film Experience]
• A.O. Scott takes a look back at “Dog Day Afternoon.” [New York Times]
• Detroit’s woes didn’t keep bad-ass muscle cars from the screen in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” [USA Today]
• As the film makes its way to Blu-ray, Glenn Kenny dives back into “The Seventh Seal.” [Some Came Running]
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Oscar nominations that made me cheer
Over the years I have been watching and studying the Oscars in earnest, since about 1974 (age 13). It has always been a nice surprise when an unexpected actor, director or film made the cut to the final five. It’s a special kind of high.I remember reacting with surprise and genuine happiness when Giancarlo Giannini was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in “Seven Beauties,” but even better was the inclusion of Lina Wertmuller, the film’s director (becoming the first woman ever to receive a designation in the directing category — nd for a foreign language film, no less). I loved the film, so this put me over the moon, even though Giannini’s nod likely cost John Wayne his nomination for “The Shootist.”
In 1997 it was Atom Egoyan, nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Sweet Hereafter,” a brilliant study of grief in small town Canada; the L.A. Times named it the best film of the year but up here in Canada, we never expected Oscar attention for Atom and his film.
I was equally thrilled when Martin Scorsese was rewarded with a nomination for his direction of “The Last Temptation of Christ,” a bold, passionate film made from the heart by one of our greatest directors.
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WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Doubt,’ Danny Boyle and a bit of politics
In a week in which there were more important things going on than the movies (an outlandish notion, I know), these were nevertheless some of the highlights:• Several takes from the AFI Fest, including disappointment in “Doubt” …
• … but hearty cheers for “The Wrestler.”
• We caught up (twice) with the thoroughly delightful Danny Boyle, both in London and in L.A.
• Meanwhile, Dennis Hopper was also feeling chatty.
• In the wake of the reprehensible passing of Proposition 8, we wondered if “Milk” could have made a difference.
• We bade farewell to Mr. Michael Crichton. Rest in peace.
• “Australia” got a new trailer and a new poster. Smashing. Can we see it now, pretty please?
• Listing the greatest English-language directors at work today. Debate, as ever, was heated.
• Tech Support surveyed the horses in the Best Film Editing race.
• Oh, you might have heard that the United States has a new president. The right one, at that.
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INTERVIEW: Dennis Hopper
The voice on other end of the line sounds nothing like the many wild and somewhat insane characters Dennis Hopper has portrayed throughout his career, which now spans more than 50 years. This is a man who has walked with James Dean (his mentor), John Wayne (who affectionately labeled him a “pinko”) and Francis Ford Coppola.As a director, Hopper was part of the movement that would bring the New American Cinema into play, closing the 1960s with his biker flick “Easy Rider,” and though he won prizes at Cannes and was hailed around the world, he has rarely directed since.
Hopper portrayed perhaps the single most terrifying character in a film with his seething work as Frank Booth in David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet.’ The same year he was nominated for an Oscar for his work as the town drunk seeking redemption with his son through basketball in “Hoosiers.” Even Hopper was stunned that the Academy failed to nominate him for Lynch’s film instead. He remembers roaring, “HOOSIERS? You’re kiddin’ me, man” when being told of the nomination. “Blue Velvet” was a film the Academy obviously feared, allowing a single nomination to David Lynch for his dreamy, surrealistic direction of the classic.
Currently Hopper is celebrating the upcoming DVD release and a low-key Oscar campaign for Best Supporting Actor in “Elegy,” a fine little film in which he portrays the poet best friend of Ben Kingsley’s introspective professor — Sir Ben as Hopper calls him.
“I was a big fan of Isabel’s [Coixet, the film’s director] work”, he explains. “So when my agent called and said I had an offer to be in a film with Sir Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz, I jumped in. It was a very human story, the sort of film I like to see, and being a big fan of Philip Roth helped me along. The film had comedy and tragedy, and most of all characters I think we can all identify with.”
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11/5 Oscarweb Round-up
• Tom O’Neil and Pete Hammond take aim at Dave Karger’s Oscar predix. [Gold Derby]• Peter Bart praises Sean Penn’s performance in “Milk,” says it soars to the top of the kudo list. [Peter Bart]
• Xan Brooks picks five films President elect Obama should check out now that he’s headed to the White House. [The Guardian]
• Plus, it’s not too early to start pondering actors who might take on the role of Obama on the big screen. [Premiere]
• Peter Knegt writes up the early days of the 2008 AFI Fest. [indieWIRE]
• T.L. Stanley sits down with “Elegy” star (and Best Supporting Actor hopeful) Dennis Hopper. [Gold Rush]
• Anthony Breznican talks to Kate Winslet about her potential one-two Oscar punch this year. [USA Today]
• Dave Karger picks three unsung performances that deserve an Oscar push (he’s always good with these). [Entertainment Weekly]
• Appalling. “Milk” takes on a whole new importance. [Los Angeles Times]
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Adapting Philip Roth
Philip Roth is author of 25 novels and other works of non-fiction. Revered in America, he has won every major American literature prize, including the National Book Foundation’s Award for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2002. Despite his literary success, his films have had a difficult journey to the silver screen.I joined the long line of Roth fans that were disappointed with Robert Benton’s adaptation of “The Human Stain,” the 2000 novel that received the National Book Award for the best work of American fiction. It was an extraordinary book and perhaps Roth’s finest. And I believed that it would translate nicely onto the silver screen. While the novel weaved in and out of the past and present, the transitions weren’t so frequent that it would create a problem for the screenwriter, Nicholas Meyer (Oscar-nominated for “The Seven-Per-Cent Solution.”
Benton was able to attach an exceptional cast that included Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise. But when the film bombed with critics and audiences alike, it was quickly pulled from mainstream movie houses and relegated to small boutique theaters, and for short periods of time. It made only $5.3 million against a production budget of $30 million.
Mr. Roth’s work has been adapted again by Mr. Meyer this year. Taking the pages of “The Dying Animal” and turning them into the film “Elegy,” Mr. Meyer and the film’s director, Isabelle Coixet have managed to create a finer adaptation of the text, and a far better film.
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‘Elegy’ the second film to go out to AMPAS
Screeners of Isabel Coixet’s “Elegy” are set to go out to Academy members this week, fresh on the heels of Sony Pictures Classics’ “Frozen River,” which went out over the weekend.
Key pushes for the film are Best Actor (Ben Kingsley), Penélope Cruz (Best Actress), Dennis Hopper (Best Supporting Actor), Patricia Clarkson (Best Supporting Actress) and Nicholas Myer (Best Adapted Screenplay). Let the games begin.